The White Sox traded starting pitcher Lance Lynn to the Dodgers, along with reliever Joe Kelley on Friday. Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have made pitching a priority in advance of the trade deadline, announced Friday that they’ve acquired Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly in a trade with the Chicago White Sox.

The NL West-leading Dodgers will send outfielder Trayce Thompson, pitcher Nick Nastrini and reliever Jordan Leasure to the White Sox.

Lynn has been mostly underwhelming this season. The 36-year-old right-hander is 6-9 with a 6.18 ERA and leads the American League in earned runs (79) and home runs allowed (28).

But Lynn has 139 strikeouts in 115 innings and 10.9 per nine innings. In June, Lynn struck out 16 in a game against Seattle, setting a major-league mark for most strikeouts in a game by a pitcher with an ERA above 6.00.

He was an All-Star for the White Sox in 2021 and shortly after signed a $38 million, two-year contract extension that included a club option.

Lynn began the 2022 season on the injured list with a meniscus tear suffered in spring training. He returned in mid-June and finished the season with an 8-7 record in 21 starts and a 3.99 ERA. He recorded 121 strikeouts in 121 2/3 innings.

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Lynn has spent most of his career in the AL. Besides the White Sox, he has pitched for Minnesota, the New York Yankees and Texas. He began his career with St. Louis, and missed the 2016 season with them after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

He won a World Series with the Cardinals in 2011, his debut season in the majors. The following year he earned his first All-Star berth.

Kelly returns to Los Angeles for his second stint with the Dodgers. The hard-throwing right-handed reliever recently returned from the injured list for elbow inflammation.

Kelly pitched for the Dodgers from 2019-21, winning the World Series during the pandemic-delayed 2020 season. He had a 3.59 ERA in 105 1/3 innings during that span.

YANKEES: New York reinstated Aaron Judge from the injured list before they open a weekend road series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Judge had been out since tearing a ligament in his right big toe June 3 when he crashed into the right-field fence while making a catch at Dodger Stadium.

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Judge played a simulated game Wednesday at the team’s complex in Tampa, Florida, and returned to New York after that, Manager Aaron Boone said.

The 2022 American League MVP faced live pitching Sunday at Yankee Stadium for the first time since the injury. Boone said Judge homered during a simulated game Tuesday in Florida. He also played the field and ran the bases.

New York is 19-23 since Judge got hurt in Los Angeles. The Yankees are 30-19 with Judge, who also missed 10 games earlier this season with a right hip strain.

Judge set an AL record with 62 home runs last year. He is batting .291 with 19 homers and 40 RBI in the first season of a $360 million, nine-year contract he signed last offseason.

To make room for Judge, the Yankees optioned infielder Oswald Peraza to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

ASTROS: Houston acquired reliever Kendall Graveman from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for minor league catcher Korey Lee.

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General Manager Dana Brown announced the trade that brought the right-handed Graveman back to Houston after he spent the last two months of the 2021 season with the Astros.

Graveman was 3-4 with eight saves and a 3.48 ERA in 45 appearances for the White Sox this season. In his first stint with the Astros after a trade from Seattle, he had a 3.13 ERA in 23 appearances.

CARDINALS: Pitcher Miles Mikolas was suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball for intentionally throwing at Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs.

Cardinals Manager Oliver Marmol was suspended for one game and fined as a result of Mikolas’ actions Thursday night. Mikolas appealed his penalties, while Marmol served his suspension Friday night against the Cubs.

In the first inning in the Cardinals’ 10-3 loss, Happ bloodied St. Louis catcher Willson Contreras when he hit him in the head with a long follow-through on a swing, then was soon hit himself by a pitch from Mikolas.

Andrew Knizner took over behind the plate for Contreras, and Mikolas brushed back Happ with the first pitch when play resumed to run the count to 3-1. With the next pitch, Mikolas hit Happ in the rear end.

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BLUE JAYS: Left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu is set to return for Toronto against Baltimore, Manager John Schneider said.

With the Blue Jays beginning a stretch of 17 games in 17 days Friday, Schneider said Ryu will be part of a six-man rotation.

Ryu has not pitched since June 1, 2022, when he left a start against the White Sox after four innings. He had surgery on his elbow 17 days later.

Ryu was an All-Star with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019, when he led the major leagues with a 2.32 ERA. He’s 75-45 with a 3.27 ERA in 175 games over nine seasons since moving from the Korean League in 2013.

RANGERS: The AL West-leading Texas Rangers placed All-Star catcher Jonah Heim on the 10-day injured list with a strained tendon in his left wrist.

Heim came out of a game at Houston on Wednesday after hurting his wrist on an awkward swing in the fourth inning. Heim is batting .280 with an .816 OPS, and has 14 home runs and a career-high 70 RBI in 90 games.

REDS: Manager David Bell, who has presided over a successful turnaround in Cincinnati, received a three-year contract extension from the Reds.

The deal that runs through the 2026 season was announced before the team faced the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

The Reds are currently 56-48 and 1 1/2 games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central. They’re trying to become the first team in major league history to win a division title after losing at least 100 games the previous season. They were 62-100 last year, tying Pittsburgh for last in the division.


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